The Cambridge History of English and American Literature in 18 Volumes (190721).Volume IX. From Steele and Addison to Pope and Swift.

X. Writers of Burlesque and Translators.

§ 3. His Imitators in France and in England.

The enthusiasm which Scarrons experiment aroused made an easy conquest of courtier and scholar alike. From the capital, it spread to the provinces, and, though none of his imitators is worth remembrance, Scarron deserves his meed of praise. He did an ill thing supremely well. In facility and suppleness, his Virgile has never been surpassed. His humour, such as it is, is tireless and inexhaustible. Moreover, if he be happy in his raillery, his work, as French admirers have said, is not without some value as a piece of criticism. He touches with a light hand the weakness of the lachrymose hero. He turns the light of the prevailing good sense upon Vergils many simplicities, for which few will thank him; and, even in the very act of burlesque, he pays his victim the compliment of a scrupulously close adherence to his text.